KOLKATA: The government has just allowed ministry of new and renewable energy's move to extended the scheme for continuation of generation based incentive for grid interactive wind power project for the 12th Plan period. The objective is to broaden the investor base, to incentivize actual generation with the help of generation based incentive, and to facilitate entry of large independent power producers and foreign direct investors to the wind...

NEW DELHI|BANGALORE: Uber and Ola have modified their incentive models for drivers after finding a number of them manipulating the system and draining millions of dollars in funds secured by the taxi-booking companies for expansion and customer acquisition. Drivers were pocketing incentives without actually ferrying passengers, many by getting friends to book a minimum number of rides or by merely logging in for specified hours to become eligible for bonus...

NEW DELHI: Gulf Oil Corp on Thursday announced the launch of its retailer incentive programme, Gulf Gold Hungama. The scheme requires the retailers to purchase Gulf selected products and packs from Gulf authorised distributors as per various slabs with a minimum quantity of 300 litres between May 15 to August 14 and win gifts. According to the scheme, purchases in the range of 501-800 litres will carry 1 gram of gold coin as gift. The offer goes up till 10 grams...

NEW DELHI: With the lean season intensifying competition in the domestic market, Indian Airlines has started wooing corporate customers with special incentives of up to 9 per cent. Additional free tickets, frequent flier mileage on free tickets and agency commission for such tickets are part of a revised package the airline has unveiled for corporate houses. The new bouquet of incentives, valid till May '03, is to meet competition from private sector rivals such as Jet Air and Air Sahara.

WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin Corp is likely to lose some incentive fees due to delays in final delivery of the 2B software it is developing for the F-35 fighter jet, the Air Force general who runs the $391 billion program told reporters on Tuesday. Lieutenant General Chris Bodgan said software testing in December revealed problems with the ability of the jets to fuse data about threats on the ground when four F-35s were flying at once. But the Marine Corps still planned to...

MUMBAI: The panel looking into commission structure across financial products will meet intermediary bodies for the final round of consultation on March 24-25. There are various classes of financial products which are having different commissions. The committee, which has already met two times in past, is examining if there could be some kind of parity in commission structure for those products. "We are holding final round of consultation with all the...

new delhi: finance minister yashwant sinha on saturday proposed an incentive fund for panchayats on the lines of the one set up for states in the budget for carrying out development works efficiently at the grass-root levels. "an additional rs 12,500-13,000 crore has been allocated to states which are doing better job. we will make similar funds available to panchayats which show better performance," sinha said at the all india panchayat adhykshas sammelan here. he said the fund would be an incentive...

NEW DELHI: The Centre has cleared a long-term investment and pricing policy package for greenfield and expansion projects of urea. This also extends to conversion of feedstock from naphtha to natural gas and LNG. The incentive-linked package, a key part of the long-term urea policy, is expected to pave the way for significant private and co-operative sector investment in state-of-the-art urea units. It will also facilitate participation of financial institutions (FIs). The policy is also...

MUMBAI: The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) on Monday banned payment of incentives to investors to bid in public sale of bonds as it considers the practice leads to an 'unfair advantage' to a select few and raises the cost to issuer. "In order to curb such practices, it is advised that in respect of public issues of debt securities, no person connected with the issue shall offer any incentive, whether direct or indirect, in any manner, whether in cash or kind...

NEW DELHI: The state governments that work towards protecting the country's forest cover are expected to get a special bonus from the coming fiscal. In keeping with its mandate of promoting ecological conservation, the Thirteenth Finance Commission (TFC) has recommended a special fiscal incentive to states for promoting afforestation. In its report submitted to the Centre last month, the commission has suggested creating a dedicated corpus of Rs 3,000 crore for the...

The Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau (SCVB) has stepped up its campaign to win business from Asia, especially India, in response to significant growth in events from the region. An increasing number of Indian companies are turning to Sydney and the state of New South Wales for conferences and incentives. The message coming through is that Asian nations regard Sydney as an 'aspirational' destination, providing opportunities to mix business with pleasure. Jon...

NEW DELHI: In a marked departure from its approach to dealing with Indian pharmaceuticals companies, the US drug regulator would now incentivize those adopting a culture of quality in addition to its usual practice of pulling up those for manufacturing lapses, a top US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official currently on a visit to India told ET. "Our historical approach to inspection has focused on where a facility is deficient in meeting the regulations. We are...

NEW DELHI: Incentives in the new foreign trade policy (FTP), to be unveiled by month-end or first week of April, should focus on only three nations for boosting exports, traders body FIEO said today. As the global economy is in a weak state, announcing incentives for a lot many countries may not help Indian exports, FIEO reasoned, adding that a sharp focus on a smaller number of markets will be more useful. "Instead of announcing...

NEW DELHI: The government today notified fixed subsidy of Rs 4,000 a tonne for export of up to 1.4 million tonnes of raw sugar in the ongoing 2014-15 marketing year (October-September). Last month, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved extension of subsidy on raw sugar export for the current year to help boost millers' cash flow and enable them payment of sugarcane arrears to farmers that have crossed Rs 14,500 crore so far. According to...

MUMBAI: The Budget has failed to offer any incentives to the affordable housing sector which is already facing risks in form of high costs and low margins, industry leaders said. "The Budget is disappointing. The affordable housing sector was expecting that the Narendra Modi government, like last time, would extend some support to it and iron out the difficulties. "Our demand for infrastructure to the affordable housing, home loan interest rate subvention...

In a bid to create a "pensioned society", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has introduced various tax incentives as well as a new pension scheme, in Budget 2015 . These are not only aimed at boosting retiral savings, but also giving a push to the government's lowprofile National Pension Scheme (NPS). The investible limits for pension products have been raised under Section 80CCC and 80CCD. Under Section 80CCC, the deduction limit has been...

NEW DELHI: The government today notified fixed subsidy of Rs 4,000 a tonne for export of up to 1.4 million tonnes of raw sugar in the ongoing 2014-15 marketing year (October-September). Last month, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) had approved extension of subsidy on raw sugar export for the current year to help boost millers' cash flow and enable them payment of sugarcane arrears to farmers that have crossed Rs 14,500 crore so far. According to the...

ET Interactive / M MAJOO WHAT with the PATA conference and the onset of summer, tourism is very much the industry of the moment. A relatively new segment of the industry in India, the cruise market is taking off says M Majoo , who heads Star Cruises' operations in India. He sees a definite trend in an increase in outbound traffic and cruise holidays. Mr Majoo spoke to Arshdeep Sehgal on why the concept of cruising is picking up in India. Cruising is...

"The budget is a tangible translation of hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for putting India on a high growth map. It is well understood that the Indian growth cycle can be kick started only with investment and this budget addresses the issue of investment squarely and boldly by deferring the fiscal deficit targets by couple of years. With this the Finance Minister has bought time and used the resources released to kick start the public investment...

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced a slew of incentives to give a boost to government's ambitious programme of agriculture diversification. The incentives include bringing the power tariff rates applicable in dairy, fishery, goatry and piggery at par with agriculture sector and advancing soft loans to the beneficiaries of goatry and piggery at interest rates equivalent to dairy sector. It also includes stabilising the...